The Southern TideWritten by W. Alejandro Sanchez, The Southern Tide addresses
maritime security issues throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. It
discusses the challenges regional navies face including limited defense
budgets, inter-state tensions, and transnational crimes. It also
examines how these challenges influence current and future defense
strategies, platform acquisitions, and relations with global powers.

The first two phases of the multinational, Caribbean-focused military exercise Tradewinds 2018 took place between 4-21 June. Said maneuvers, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM),
brought together an estimated 1,700 troops from almost two dozen
nations. Given the ongoing maritime security challenges that the Greater
Caribbean continues to face, these confidence and
interoperability-building exercises continue to be very important.

Tradewinds ‘18The first two phases of Tradewinds 2018 took place in Saint Kitts and Nevis
and then in The Bahamas. Phase III, a seminar among regional leaders to
discuss the results of the first two phases, occured from 17-19 July in
Miami, Florida. The participating nations included the majority of
Caribbean states, in addition to Canada, Mexico, the U.S. and
extra-hemispheric states like France, the Netherlands, and the United
Kingdom.

Some of the platforms that were deployed include the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Charles David Jr. (WPC-1107); the British RFA Mounts Bay(L3008), a Bay-class auxiliary landing ship dock; Canada’s HMCS Shawinigan (MM 704), a Kingston-class coastal defense vessel; and Mexico’s ARM Oaxaca (PO 161), an Oaxaca-class
patrol vessel. As for aerial platforms, these included AS365N3 Panther
and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. As SOUTHCOM explains “this year’s focus
is on countering transnational organized crime in the region,” apart
from other priorities like improving disaster response. Operations at
sea including procedures to intercept a non-compliant vessel, and live
firing exercises with deck-mounted weapon systems like .50 caliber
machine guns and 25 mm cannon.

In
general, Caribbean governments and security forces have generally had a
positive attitude toward these maneuvers. For example, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and Minister of National Security the Honourable Dr. Timothy Harrisreportedly
stated “I have been assured that we can therefore expect training
components or injects that reflect real world scenarios so that in the
face of a real threat, our security forces and emergency response
personnel will be able to coordinate seamlessly and in a manner and time
that both meet international standards.” Similarly, Christian J.
Ehrlich, an external analyst at the Strategic Research Institute of the
Mexican Navy (Instituto de Investigaciones Estratégicas de la Armada de México), explained to the author that Tradewinds will help improve interoperability between regional navies and coast guards.

Caribbean ThreatsThe
Caribbean’s maritime security challenges are very diverse. They include
drug trafficking (Washington’s primary concern), weapons and human
trafficking, illegal fishing, not to mention search and rescue
operations. These crimes have been extensively recorded, but it is worth
noting that some occurred, somewhat ironically, at the same time that
Tradewinds was taking place. For example, in mid-June Her Majesty’s Bahamian Ship (HMBS) Durward Knowles, a patrol vessel,
intercepted a 50-ft Dominican fishing vessel that was poaching in
Bahamian waters. Around the same time, the Dominican Republic chased a
speedboat until it stopped in the coast of Pedernales province. Aboard
were 351 packets which
apparently contained cocaine. A month earlier, in early May, it was the
Jamaican Defense Force’s turn to catch a vessel at sea, as a ship
reportedly intercepted off the coast of Westmoreland had “764.9 pounds of compressed marijuana.”

Even more, piracy is becoming a noteworthy problem: in 2017 the organization Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP)
“recorded 71 incidents in Latin America and the Caribbean. Most
incidents in the region occurred in territorial waters, with anchored
yachts being the primary targets for attackers.” There were also 16
attacks against tankers and three fishing vessels, among other types of
ships. A map prepared by OBPshows
a cluster of incidents off the coast of Belize, Colombia, Venezuela as
well around the islands of Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines.

Not counted in the report was a late-April 2018 incident
along the Guyanese-Surinamese border, where pirates attacked a group of
four fishing boats, robbing the crew and killing several of them.

The Status of Caribbean Maritime ForcesSome
Caribbean defense forces have attempted to upgrade and expand their
maritime fleets in order to take better control of their exclusive
economic zone (EEZ). For example, the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF)
has cquired several vessels constructed by Damen Shipyard via the Sandy Bottom Project.
These include Damen Stan 3007 and Stan Patrol 4207 patrol vessels as
well as one Stan Lander 5612 auxiliary transport, roll on-roll off
vessel. Similarly in 2016 the Jamaican Defense Force(JDF) upgraded its fleet by receiving two new Stan Patrol 4207 from Damen in 2017.That same year, the JDF received two 38-foot SAFE boats and two 37-foot Boston Whaler vessels, donated by the U.S. More recently, in late July 2018, the Barbados Coast Guard commissioned patrol boat Endurance, a 958Y inshore vessel donated by China earlier this year.
The ambitious Sandy Bottom Project notwithstanding, Caribbean defense
forces in general have limited defense budgets, hence new platforms,
aerial or maritime, are not acquired or modernized regularly. Moreover,
the aforementioned examples also highlight the continuous reliance on
extra-regional allies for donations in order to expand the naval
inventory of these defense forces.

Mr.
Ehrlich mentions that greater regional cooperation and interoperability
is needed in order to make up for a limited number of platforms and
personnel, and in order to decrease the region’s dependence on SOUTHCOM
and the U.S. Coast Guard. The Mexican Navy could step up its presence in
the Caribbean to help its partners with maritime security, but
unfortunately the Mexican Navy seems to be more focused on its Pacific
territory.

As
a final point, it is important to highlight the troubling scandals
regarding regional defense officers that are caught in cahoots with
criminals. For example, Colonel Rafael Collado Ureña of the Dominican Republic’s Army,
was arrested in mid-2017 in Puerto Rico as he was about to carry out a
sale of 12.9 kilograms of cocaine. Around the same time, a member of the
Jamaican Defense Force was arrested at Kingston airport as he tried to
board a flight to Toronto with 2.8 kilograms of cocaine.

Final ThoughtsExercise
Tradewinds 2018 recently concluded, and hopefully the maneuvers and
training exercises that Caribbean forces carried out with counterparts
such as those from Canada, Mexico, the UK, and the U.S, will be helpful
for their future patrol and interdiction operations in their respective
EEZs. We can also hope that these ongoing exercises, as well as
generally cordial regional diplomatic, trade and defense relations, will
lead to greater interoperability between regional forces.

While
Tradewinds 2018 can be regarded as a success, these maneuvers will have
limited positive impact if Caribbean defense forces do not obtain
additional funding for new aerial and naval platforms given the size of
the Caribbean Sea. Even more, scandals among security personnel, namely
their involvement in criminal activities, stain the reputation of
regional defense forces and limit the success of any training
operations.

Wilder
Alejandro Sanchez is a researcher who focuses on geopolitical, military
and cyber security issues in the Western Hemisphere. Follow him on
Twitter: @W_Alex_Sanchez.

The
views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do
not necessarily reflect those of any institutions with which the author
is associated.